H.S. BASEBALL: Oliver Ames ousts Duxbury

Thursday

The Tigers advanced to the Div. 2 South final with Wednesday night's walk-fueled 11-7 victory.

ROCKLAND -- The Oliver Ames baseball team has earned a spot in the all-Hockomock League Division 2 South championship game.

The sixth-seeded Tigers punched their ticket with an 11-7 victory over seventh-seeded Duxbury High on Wednesday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium in a not-so-pretty semifinal-round game that included 18 walks.

No. 6 Oliver Ames (16-7) will face top-seeded North Attleboro (20-2) likely on Saturday at a time and site to be determined as the Tigers seek their first South title since winning the state championship in 2007.

A four-run first inning when Oliver Ames had only two hits but four walks set the tone, and the Tigers never trailed the seventh-seeded Green Dragons (14-9). Every time Duxbury tried to make a move on Oliver Ames, the Tigers answered with more runs.

“That’s something we said at the beginning of the year,’’ said coach Joe Abarr. “When we’re scored on, our goal is to answer back immediately. If you’re the team playing catch-up and every time you get on the board they’re right back at you, that’s a very, very uphill battle for you to play. I think that was something that was very positive about our hitters.’’

The Tigers sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning and 10 more in the third when they scored four runs each.

Matt Muir (three hits) opened the bottom of the first inning with a single to right, and Michael Friel and Chris Pearons drew walks before Mitchell Goulet was hit by a pitch to open the scoring. Jake Erlich delivered a two-run single and C.J. Deveau walked with the bases loaded for the quick 4-0 lead.

“That was huge,’’ said Abarr of the start.

Duxbury got within 4-2 in the third with Sam Reagan scoring on a balk and Luke Eggers coming home on a Charlie Coon single, but Oliver Ames answered in the third to open an 8-2 edge, using eight walks and just four hits through three innings.

Nick Zwerle brought the first run in with a single to left, and a grounder scored Erlich before Muir delivered a two-out, two-run triple to right center.

The Green Dragons got within 8-4 in the fifth on an RBI single by Pat Melampy and a sacrifice fly by Frank Tower, but again, Oliver Ames came right back with three more runs in the bottom of the inning.

Jacob Levine got things started with a triple to left-center field and scored on a single by Pearsons, who in turn scored when Deveau beat out an infield hit. A wild pitch brought in Goulet for an 11-4 bulge.

But Duxbury scored three times with two outs in the sixth inning, with Tower getting an RBI single and a wild pitch and hit batsmen scoring the other two. However, the Green Dragons left two runners in scoring position.

Michael Mulrean was the winning pitcher, allowing six hits in 5 2/3 innings with seven walks. Each team walked nine batters as pitchers struggled with the mound.

“I’ve got to hand it to him,’’ said Abarr of Mulrean. “He did a good job hanging in there and he gave us a chance to win. That’s all we could ask for. I think both sides really had to deal with that adversity. You could see their guy slipping and sliding.’’

Oliver Ames opened its season on April 9 with a 5-2 loss to North Attleboro, which advanced to the South final Wednesday afternoon with a 20-2 rout of Dartmouth.

“We haven’t seen them in two-and-a-half months,’’ said Abarr. “We weren’t on time with our hitters (in the first meeting). I’m hoping with two-and-a-half months under our belt we’ll give them a better run. They were just a step ahead that day.’’

Oliver Ames lost in the semifinal round a year ago, falling 10-6 to Westwood as the No. 10 seed. One year later, the Tigers are a win away from a South title.

“I try not to set logistical goals about where we want to end up,’’ said Abarr. “I try to work on specific things throughout the season. These guys from top to bottom have done a tremendous job working on those things and we just let everything else happen.’’